Sedentary time, physical activity, and overweight in European schoolchildren

As we published recently in the journal PLOS ONE, more than 20% of 10-12 year old schoolchildren across Europe is overweight or obese. In some countries these rates are much higher, with more than 40% of Greek children being overweight of obese. When kids eat more calories than they use, the gain weight. Preventing overweight and obesity thus means maintaining a good energy balance. At least one hour of medium to high intensity physical activity is recommended for children for fitness and energy-balance. Next to diet and physical activity, too much sedentary behavior, i.e. activities that children do while sitting -watching TV, playing computer games, reading, doing homework et cetera- may be a separate risk behavior for metabolic health; even when children are physically active enough, if they sit most of the rest of the day, they may still be more likely to be overweight and obese. The evidence to support this is mixed at best, however. In our PLOS ONE study we showed that children spend more than two hours per day in front of the TV or computer screen. In separate studies we also showed that such screen time was only a minor part of total sedentary time, and that children who sat most had higher body mass index and waist circumference, but we found no evidence for other negative metabolic health indicators. In a new study just published in Pediatric Obesity, with prof Ilse de Bourdeaudhuij from Ghent University as first author, we now find that girls who show low physical activity and high sedentary time are most likely to be overweight, while for boys physical activity seems more than sedentary time.